The Funhouse (1981)

Pretty decent

The funhouse is a fairly decent 80's horror movie. It's very different, because it's not a typical slasher flick. It's about a group of kids who go to a local carnival, filled with weird carnies. The boss of the carnival has a strange secret that has to do with his "Son". When the group decides that they want to sleep in the fun house, the secrets are revealed. The kids are doomed, within the fun house, as there are traps around every corner... March 11, 2008

Tobe Hooper Takes the Fun Out of Funhouse

"Funhouse" does to carnivals what "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" did to slaughterhouses. Both movies were directed by Tobe Hooper. The latter movie is a classic. When "Funhouse" was first released, I was under eighteen and not allowed to go to R-rated movies. However, I read the Jove novel based on the screenplay; it was written by Owen West, which is a pseudonym for best-selling author Dean Koontz. The novel was much better than the movie; it explains the relationship between the heroine and the monster. For years, the carnival barker has been searching for the offspring of his beautiful ex-wife who slew their monster child. He finds her daughter and traps her and her friends in the funhouse.

"Funhouse" mimics "Halloween" very closely. Almost to the point of copyright infringement. A little boy dons a mask and pretends to do a "Psycho" number on his sister who is taking a shower. The movie drags to the point of boredom, especially when the four teens first arrive at the carnival. The body count could've been higher. There is talk about disappearing girls in other towns where the carnival visited but none of the killings are shown, not even in flashbacks. The movie should've began with teenagers being slaughtered in the funhouse at another town.

The acting was good and the settings were nice. However, some of the props used in the funhouse were real. There were real mallets, swords, and other instruments of death that wouldn't have been present in an actual funhouse because of safety concerns. Also, there would've been more exits in case of a fire.

In "Texas Chainsaw Massacre," Tobe Hooper was trying to put us in the place of the cattle that are slaughtered for food. Like some of the victims, they are hit in the head and hung on hooks. I think twice about eating red meat. In "Funhouse," I think Tobe Hooper is trying to teach us that funhouses are actual houses of terror. Funhouses depict people being maimed and tortured; it may be fun when it is happening to someone else but it is never fun when it's happening to us.

If there had been more deaths to keep the plot moving at a steady pace, I probably would've given this movie at least four, maybe five stars. As it was, there were too many times when it was unnecessarily stagnant.
February 20, 2008

No one escapes the Funhouse!

This movie is awesome. This movie defines exactly what horror was during the late 70's and early 80's. Tobe Hooper directed an instant classic with this one. The movie follows a small group of teens who decide to camp out one night inside the local carnival's funhouse ride. Once inside the ride they realize that the ride's operators are less than desirable. Now that they have become trapped inside the attraction, they must formulate a plan to stay alive and hopefully get out. Every single time I hear about or see a carnival I think of this movie. Remember what "Jaws" did for ocean goers? Funhouse did the same thing for carnival enthusiasts. Great horror film! February 14, 2008

A great slasher!

I feel that if you are: into the slasher films of the early 80s, like Tobe Hooper's films, and don't care for gore--- than you might like The Funhouse(1981). This movie is awesome! I liked it because I am into chase scenes, OR CAT AND MOUSE CHASES,and movies were there is a final girl or someone that is all bloodeed up or is all messed up and this movie has just that. I loved how Elizabeth Berridge(the final girl) is walking through the carnival and passes a home-less man who is all dirty and dressed like a hobo and she is wearing make-up and a dressy dress and is beautiful. At the end of the film when she is leavind the Carnival grounds she passes him again but this time she is all messed up just as he is. Also a homeless women kept reminder her "God is watching" and at the end while she is passing the homeless woman the woman smiles almost as if she said I TOLD YA SO, YOU WOULDN'T LISTEN: GOD PUNISHED YOU!

Overall it is a great movie and I loved the beginning and ending scenes!
If anyone hasn't scene it and is into old slashers I suggest you see it(it's not that bloody or gory)!!!!! January 14, 2008

THE FUNHOUSE

Tobe Hooper has made a successful career directing horror films. who can forget his cult classic debut, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre? Or, for mainstream audiences, the Steven Spielberg-produced Poltergeist? Or, Lifeforce and 2005's The ToolBox Murders. Another of Hooper's early films, The Funhouse (1981), is a solid and entertaining film deserving of horror status.

The Funhouse's plot is a fairly simple one. One evening, two young couples go on a double date to a carnival. The guys decide it might be exciting to spend the night in the house of horrors. strange, right? Still, the girls reluctantly agree, and all four teens sneak off into the spooky funhouse. Unfortunately, something goes horribly wrong, and the teens' fun outing transforms into a night of horror.

The Funhouse has a cast largely of unknowns, except for Elizabeth Berridge (best known as Mozart's wife in Amadeus). Berridge's girl-next-door persona in The Funhouse provides audiences with a likable and winsome heroine. As for the other cast members, well, this is a horror film, after all. Some of them might just meet a ghastly and untimely demise. In fact, The Funhouse opens with a typical slasher shower sequence similar to both Psycho and Halloween.

Berridge portrays Amy, the young heroine who goes out on an evening date with her new boyfriend Buzz (Cooper Huckabee). Amy's friend, Liz (Largo Woodruff), tags along with her nerdy date, Richie (Miles Chaplin). And sneaking along behind all of them is Amy's kid brother Joey (Shawn Carson), who ends wandering aimlessly around the carnival before losing track of his sister and getting scared out of his mind.

When the film's four teens hide in the funhouse, they are accidentally locked in. They are not alone inside, and after secretly witnessing a blood-chilling murder, they realize that unless they can escape from the funhouse, the same fate awaits them, too.

The Funhouse, which is based on a Dean R. Koontz novel, has a good sense of style and thrills and offers enough twists to elicit more than a few sudden shrieks.

Personally, I've always considered carnivals at night to be a little spooky and I enjoyed this movie from start to finish... Great Film.

The Funhouse is presented in a color widescreen format. Although the transfer is only single-layered, the film looks quite nice, with good color saturation, accurate flesh tones, and solid black levels. Details are sharp and clear without any obvious dust or dirt, surprisingly. This is a very clean transfer with only a trace of grain.

Audio ***

The Funhouse is presented in stereo 2.0. It's not too powerful but generally serves the film well. Elizabeth Berridge proves to be a great shrieker, and had she done more horror flicks, she might have given Jamie Lee Curtis a run for the money as teen horror queen of the early 1980's.

Features *

There are no, murderous clowns in this film, contrary to any impression given by the DVD's front cover artwork,though there are some scary surprises. The only bonus feature is the trailer.

One of Tobe Hooper's early horror films, The Funhouse will provoke many goosebumps and nervous squeaks. More of a "fun" horror film, it makes a great midnight treat, especially for those chilly movie nights.


November 22, 2007

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